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Facebook reveals your own 2012 Year in Review
We've already seen Google's search-based turn at nostalgia for 2012. Facebook doesn't want to be left out, but it's swinging the focus to a very different subject than the usual politicians and pop stars: ourselves. Now that the Timeline has had a year to weave into our collective consciousness, Facebook is using it to show all the personal highlights of the past 12 months that it deems worthy, such as job changes, new friends and the many photos that reached our news feeds. Not that Facebook isn't willing to look at the bigger picture. It notes that US trends were dominated by elections, The Hunger Games and -- surprise -- Facebook's new buddy, Instagram. There's even more trends to explore at a special 2012 section of Facebook Stories, so you'll have plenty of options if you're as interested in your own life events as reliving the Olympics.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Encyclopedia due out October 12th
Those of you who want a more detailed look at the story behind Star Wars: The Old Republic are going to get your wish on October 15th with the Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Encyclopedia. The book contains a full rundown of the game's historical events, classes, persons of interests, ships, hardware, races, and so on. And it has a new trailer as of today because apparently books now get video trailers. Clocking in at 352 pages, the hardcover volume is penned by several members of the SWTOR writing team and explores the nuances behind the universe as presented in the game. The book is set to feature a full timeline and a number of pages on important events, useful for piecing together the full story from somewhat fragmented in-game lore. It can be pre-ordered now on Amazon and should be more than worth the value for roleplayers or dedicated lore hounds. Take a look at the trailer just past the cut.
Shazam now rides shotgun with any TV show in the US, gets cozier with Facebook
Shazam doesn't want to let GetGlue control all our couch potato time -- it just rolled out an upgrade to its TV component that lets the mobile app provide social sharing, soundtrack and trivia details for nearly any TV show in the US, not just those deemed worthy of special attention. The app mirrors the program it's looking at -- we'll see stats instead of IMDb if we're watching hockey, for example. Whether or not attention is locked on the bigger screen in the living room, Shazam's little screen is making Facebook more a centerpiece of the experience. Media mavens can comment on friends' tagging habits and post their own tags to their Facebook timelines for all to see. The wider universe of TV shows should be available today, although we'll have to wait for an update in the "coming weeks" to broadcast our tastes in media with the rest of the world.
The Mog Log: It's the countdown
On November 1st, it's the end of the world as we know it. I'll let you know then how I'm feeling. All right, the game will still be online for another week or so, but November 1st is the last day that any progress is getting saved. You can go ahead and ignore Final Fantasy XIV after that last server photograph, unless you had an urge to spend all of your gil on airship rides but couldn't bear the thought of being broke. Not that you'll even need to worry about that after September 29th if you're not currently subscribed, as that's the last chance for people to come back even if it's just for a short period of time. It's hard to avoid looking forward to the end of the game as it stands, and the fact that we have a precise timeframe only exacerbates the problem. We've got 45 days until the ending hits, and while I've already talked about what to do with the time you have left, there are questions that need to be asked as we look at the numbers.
Timeline depicts history of iPhone, iPod and iPad sales
Apple is expected to introduce a new iPhone, a small iPad and possibly new iPods at an event on September 12. If you are feeling nostalgic about Apple's mobile and music devices, you can take a walk down memory lane with Everyi's Ultimate iTimeline. The web-based timeline shows the launch date and life span of every iPod, iPad and iPhone model. You can see when the devices launched by year and click on a device to pull up details about it. There's also a filtering function which will let you narrow your view based on model name and a highlighting feature that'll let you color-code the devices in the timeline. When you are done exploring Apple's mobile device portfolio, you can check out EveryMac's Ultimate timeline for Macs. Both timelines are formatted for Safari on a 13-inch display with 1280x800 resolution.
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 review: an Ultrabook with discrete graphics (and an optical drive)
More Info Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 review Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 hands-on Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 Ultrabooks with Kepler graphics coming to the US for $680-plus The PC industry might have 100-some-odd Ultrabooks up its sleeve, but fortunately for restless tech reviewers like yours truly, they're not all cast from the same mold. As the year wears on, we'll see prices dip as low as $700, and a few will be offered with discrete graphics -- a nice respite from games handicapped at 30 fps. And, in some rare cases, you'll find machines that manage to achieve both. Enter the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 series, a pair of 14- and 15-inch laptops that start at $680, and, for an added premium, can be had with NVIDIA Kepler graphics. What's more, the 14-inch model we tested has a DVD burner, making it as much a full-fledged laptop as an Intel-approved Ultrabook. Accordingly, then, we'll be comparing it not just to other low-priced ultraportables, but to some budget mainstream notebooks on offer this back-to-school season. So how does it stack up? Let's see.%Gallery-161687%
Development timeline: Silent Hill Book of Memories
Last year, we got our first look at Silent Hill: Book of Memories, a PlayStation Vita game that inspires curiosity, to say the least. As a top-down, multiplayer Silent Hill, it's an oddity among horror games and among Silent Hills.We wanted to know more about how this unusual game came to be, so we went to publisher Konami and developer WayForward to get some insight on the development process behind Book of Memories. The two companies responded with a surprisingly detailed development timeline for Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and a wealth of never-before-seen images from throughout the process, including screenshots of a PC demo WayForward put together to convince Konami they were the right team for the job. We've also spoken at length to Konami producer Tomm Hulett and WayForward Director Adam Tierney about the motivations behind the game's design.
Line messaging and VoIP app adds 'timeline' and 'home' features, throws in new platform for app integration
With now over 45 million users, while you may not use Line yourself, someone you know (or at least someone they know) probably does. The Asia-centric Skype rival has decided to roll-out some extra functionality and is looking to go a few rounds with even bigger competition. 'Home' offers up a base for sharing photos and other content, as well as your own status updates, while the 'timeline' feature will throw together a familiar-sounding chronological breakdown of your latest adventures to show your friends, adding in the ability to comment on each other's posts. Its 'Line channel' sounds even more nebulous and aims to use the existing app as a foundation for integrating and linking to yet more programs and services. The screenshots hint at camera, gaming and (yes) horoscope integration, while Line is gearing up for both HTML5 and native applications. Hit up the company's notions on a heavily connected messaging service in two servings of press release, right after the break.
Acer ships Aspire M5 Ultrabook to UK in June, Ivy Bridge and Kepler chips in tow
Acer made something of a splash when it trotted out its Timeline Ultra series of Ultrabooks at CES; those waves are just now hitting the shore with a full-on release in the UK under a tweaked Aspire M5 name. Both the 14- and 15-inch models are now known to be packing Intel's Ivy Bridge-era third-generation Core processors, and the "dedicated" video we heard about in January is NVIDIA's Kepler-based GeForce GT 640M, which we saw in the Timeline Ultra M3. Either new PC is still under 20mm (0.8 inches) thick with the option of an SSD, like the M3, but slapping the M5 badge on top means a much narrower display bezel, a backlit keyboard and other more upscale touches that show where your money's going. Picking the 15-inch model adds an optical drive along with a keypad for number-crunching. Mum's the word on exact specs and that all-important pricing, but those questions will be answered by the time the M5 hits British shops in mid-June. Now all that's left is to know when the new Aspire reaches the other side of the Atlantic.
Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second
I never wanted to join Facebook. I never wanted to join anything online, really. I was coerced into creating a Xanga at some point, and eventually -- when Facebook opened up to NC State email addresses -- I begrudgingly created an account there, too. I had a "thing" about opening my life up to the internet. I knew already that prospective employers would inevitably go digging through shots of me celebrating at an NCSU basketball game and spike my resume in the trash can beside his or her UNC degree. More than anything, though, I just didn't care what anyone else was doing. I kept a handful of comrades close to my chest, and everyone else was a mere acquaintance. At the time, I blamed it on the 21 hours of courses I was taking entirely on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- who has time for online networking when you're in an educational torture chamber? -- but now I realize the truth: I never wanted Facebook to be a social network.
Facebook adds organ donation to Timeline Life Events
In the off-chance you're among those bemoaning the limits of sharable personal information on Facebook, the social network has some good news. This time out, however, sharing is a bit more serious, potentially affecting the more than 114,000 people in the US alone who are waiting for an organ donation. Zuck and co. today announced that it has added organ donor status to its Timeline view. Users can add where and when they signed up and share their donation stories. "[W]e believe that by simply telling people that you're an organ donor, the power of sharing and connection can play an important role," the company wrote in a blog post today. You can also use the feature to find a link to an official donor registry in your area. For more info, check the source link below.
BlackBerry 10 camera app gets 'timeline lens,' bad photographers get a do-over
Thorsten Heins is on stage at BlackBerry World 2012 and has just unveiled the new BB10 camera app. It is designed to capture those "magic moments" you miss by not hitting that shutter quick enough. If you miss it by a couple of seconds, you can cycle back through the camera's cache with a circular "timeline" lens and take your pick from the previous seconds worth of frames. It's eerily reminiscent of technology used in the Nikon 1 series, although the implication here is that as soon as the camera app is loaded, it'll start recording frames for your ease of use.
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 brings an NVIDIA Kepler GPU to the ultrabook party
Acer unveiled several new Ultrabooks at CeBIT last week (we spent time with the V5 and V3) but its M3 may be the most special one of all. NVIDIA mentions it will not only be the first with a discrete GPU -- beating Lenovo's T430u to the punch -- but that the included GeForce GT640M is based on the long-awaited 28nm Kepler architecture. That should give it enough power to run the latest games while still remaining true to the ultrabook tag with a 20mm thick frame and (promised) 8 hours of battery life thanks to Optimus technology. The 15-inch Aspire Timeline M3 Ultra also breaks the mold by squeezing in a DVD drive for games you can't get from Steam, along with options for either a hybrid hard drive / SSD or SSD-only storage setup. Neither company has included a pricetag in their joyful announcements, but these no-compromise packages are expected to begin shipping later this month.
Gowalla officially shut down, uses Facebook to check-in at SXSW 2012
SXSW attendees may remember that both Gowalla and Foursquare launched at the aforementioned conference in 2009, and during its 2012 edition, the former is formally saying goodbye. Just three months after we heard that Facebook had picked up (but two months after the shutdown was promised), Gowalla is saying its final words. Specifically: "Thank you for going out with Gowalla. It was a pleasure to journey with you around the world. Download your check-ins, photos and lists here soon."Don't cry, Gowalla -- at least you won't have to deal with any more SXSW registration lines.
This Week in Facebook: Offers, Ads and Timeline for Pages
Facebook's gently unveiled a raft of changes to its policies to boost advertising on the social network. It unveiled Timeline for pages, meaning that companies can now start uploading baby pictures and changing the cover photo every day. While adverts have been traditionally restricted to the right-rail of the site, now they'll be jammed in at will -- including in your mobile app (which the company conceded it wasn't "monetizing"), timeline and log in / out pages. Advertisers will also have access to a reach generator: once your brand reaches a set (unspecified) number of fans, you can pay to contact up to 75 percent of them with your adverts each month. Finally, there's offers: a way for businesses to share discounts and promotions with users that can then be whipped out at the store on your cellphone, which is certainly cooler than slicing out sections of the penny saver. [Thanks, Chris]
Motorola outs Android 4.0 upgrade schedule, adds Atrix 4G, Photon 4G and others to the ICS party list
Ever since the debut of Ice Cream Sandwich, the masses of Motorola owners have yearned to discover when (if?) their devices would receive Android's latest and greatest. Well, Moto's finally let the cat out of the bag, setting out domestic and global timelines for its tablets and phones to get Android 4.0. Xoom WiFi owners here in the states have been enjoying ICS for a month, and Family Edition owners can expect the same tasty treat in Q2 of this year. Folks with RAZRs (including the Chinese MT917 variant) or XT928 (the Chinese evolution of the Droid X) in areas outside the US will be getting ICS in Q2 as well. Atrix 4G, Atrix 2, and Photon 4G owners around the world will have to wait until Q3 of 2012 for theirs, as will Xoom 2 and Xyboard owners. Motorola's blog, Inside Motorola, states that the Bionic, Droid 4, RAZR Maxx, and Electrify will be getting in on the action, too, but its engineers have yet to set a date for their upgrades. Head on down to the source links below to take a gander at the good news yourself.
Facebook Timeline feature, unflattering photos being pushed out to all users in next few weeks
Okay, so now that we've all had sufficient time to go on an untagging spree, Facebook is finally getting ready to begin pushing its new layout to all users. Timeline will be rolled out to everyone over the next few weeks, with the social network giving you seven days to preview it before going live, you know, just in case...
Facebook launches Timeline Apps platform, socialites rejoice
Facebook, along with its launch partners, has finally let loose its Timeline Apps platform, setting Open Graph apps free to roam the web. Announced at the company's f8 conference in September, Timeline Apps allow third-parties to build Facebook applications that facilitate information sharing amongst users and their social network. While FB initially focused on the music and movie genre, Zuckerberg & Co. seem to have keyed-in on a variety of markets for today's launch, from travel (TripAdvisor) to cuisine (Foodspotting), and even ticketing companies like ScoreBig, Eventbrite, StubHub, TicketFly and Ticketmaster. So now everyone will know immediately when you scored those backstage passes to Ricky Martin because you're living la vida loca with Timeline. Get the full story from Facebook at the source and PR from ScoreBig awaits after the break.
Acer reveals Timeline Ultra at CES: eight hours of life, shipping Q1 2012
Wondering just how hot the Ultrabook token is here at CES? Wonder no more. Acer just tacked "Ultra" onto its revised Timeline series, pushing the actual boundaries of the definition. The new range -- which includes a 14-inch and 15-inch model -- touts up to eight hours of battery life, a "two-spindle" design, Instant On functionality, a chassis that measures 20mm thick, Intel's latest Core i processors, dedicated graphics and a slim DVD Super Multi optical drive. Those who buy in will get their choice of HDD or SSD and an HDMI port, with shipments starting this quarter. Shame there's no price to pore over, though.
Moo.com makes business cards from your Facebook Timeline
It's a new year, which probably means that you're due for new business cards. And look, your card design from last year is precisely that -- so last year. Moo has announced a clever new design, which allows you to "take your Facebook Timeline offline, and hand it out to new friends, contacts and potential clients." Wildly enough, creating 'em is as easy as tweaking your Timeline. Once you're ready to roll, just sign in and allow Moo to access your data (cue privacy advocate yelling), check that you spelled your name right and hand over $15 for a stack of 50 cards. Update: Looks like there is a Like button after you've ordered. Nice!
